Gainers and Losers

Energy and commodity stocks gained on rising prices of crude oil and metals.

Crude oil for March delivery rose 2% to $93.59 per barrel and copper futures gained to $3,599 per pound. Energy stocks PetroChina and CNOOC Limited gained 2.8% and 2.4% respectively.

Aluminum Corp of China advanced 2.1% to HK$11.82 and Jiangxi Copper jumped 3.5 % to HK$14.80 among commodity stocks.

New Media soared 111.7% from its IPO price at HK$1.44 after the company raised HK$87.61 million in Hong Kong.

China Mobile Limited, the country’s biggest mobile telecommunications company, also rose by 1.8% to HK$1140.70, and HSBC Holdings gained 1% to HK$110.30.

Insurer Ping An however slumped 0.3% to HK$54.05 after brokerage Goldman Sachs slashed its rating on the stock from “buy” to “neutral”.

Company News

The Standard online edition reported today that Cheung Kong Holdings will sell Rmb8 billion luxury residential project in Beijing in the middle of the year as prices of high-end accommodation rise. The entire project will be developed in five phases until 2013.

The first phase, with 400 villas, semi-detached and detached houses will be completed in 2010 and presales will be launched before the Olympics in August.


5:00AM New York, 7:00PM Tokyo - Commodities and energy stocks leads Tokyo’s gain. Sumitomo Heavy Industries makes 58 billion yen buyout proposal for U.S. chip manufacturer Axcelis Technologies.

Japan stock averages edged higher despite rising metals and oil prices in the region. Metals especially copper gained after China forecasted difficult weather conditions and investors estimated weeks of disrupted production.

Market Sentiment

In Tokyo trading Nikkei 225 edged 0.04% higher or 4.72 to 13,021.96, and the broader Topix Index declined 0.1% or 1.04 to 1,286.10.

In the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange 10 billion shares worth 1 trillion yen were traded and in the second section 490 million shares valued at 3.5 billion yen changed hands.

Of the Nikkei 225 stocks 98 gained, 121 fell, and 6 were unchanged. Inpex Holdings led gainers with a rise of 8.74% after crude oil prices for March delivery advanced 2% to $93.59 per barrel.

AIG Weaknesses

American International Group Inc, the world’s largest insurer, declined yesterday after it reported in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that auditors have discovered a “material weakness” in the way the company values its senior credit-default swaps.

The company changed the method how it uses calculation of losses in these swaps and increased its estimate of losses by $4.9 billion to $5.9 billion at the end of November 2007. The company also cited that it cannot value these complex securities at this time. Separately its independent auditors PriceWaterhouseCoopers said that company has material weakness in valuing these securities.